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“The Ultimate Multi-Media
Event” |
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Got any red? What do you think of when
you see someone in a red shirt? Although they are already in the Sports
section of the Kansas City Star nearly every day, this shirt has nothing
to do with the Chiefs. Colors are symbols. If I wore this shirt in Haiti, the
people on the street would think that I’m a practitioner of Voodoo. I’m not –
and I won’t be wearing this shirt when Suanne and I are in Haiti one week from
tomorrow. But this color does have some religious symbolism for me – and all
Christians. I am wearing it today because this is Pentecost Sunday, and the
liturgical color for today is red. And, I have to confess; I also wore it today because it fits in well with what I want to say next. When I say the words: “bright colors – people coming together for a common purpose – often at great personal sacrifice – spectacle – a loud roar – unintelligible noise – a roller coaster ride of emotions – eating – drinking – stirring music – and even praying” – what event comes to your mind? I bet you thought I was talking about church – right? No! I’m thinking about what I mentioned at the very beginning of this sermon. I am thinking about the experience of a professional football game. How many of you honestly thought I was describing “church?” How many thought of a Chiefs game? And what is the ultimate professional football game? The Super Bowl! Every year, I decide to not watch the Super Bowl if none of my favorite teams are playing – but because of the hype (and the commercials) I still usually end up watching. Are any of you like me – do you watch the Super Bowl for the commercials? Months after the game, I only remember who won the game if it’s a team that I normally root for, but (no matter what) I will remember some of the best commercials. But that’s the point, isn’t it? Researchers are constantly searching for the right combination of sights, sounds, feelings, and smells to entice us to pick their product off a shelf stacked high with a lot of other shapes and colors of the same thing. Over the years, the delivery systems for our commercials have radically changed. Radio relied totally on how our hearing could stimulate our imaginations. Eventually families bought black and white televisions and commercials changed. When color technology was introduced to television, our commercials changed again. Color television became larger color television. Larger color television became stereo television. Now we are watching broadcasts in surround sound coming to us through home theater systems and digital, high definition, widescreen, plasma or LCD TVs. As entertainment and advertising engage our senses ever more fully, they have a stronger and longer impact on us. They shape our values, and influence our worldview, and direct our behavior. Once upon a time, God produced the most powerful, memorable, multi-media event in history. No, I’m not talking about a time when the Chiefs played in the Super Bowl! Early Christian witnesses remembered a sound that was described to be like a rush of wind. It’s presence filled the whole house where Jesus’ followers had gathered for prayer. Because of the way Luke, the writer of Acts, described it, maybe the people not only heard something, but also felt it too. Maybe they felt something like wind blowing across their skin – or maybe it was a stirring within them. We don’t know. The new little congregation not only heard something – and felt something – they also saw something. They saw tongues resting over each one’s head – and for some reason, it reminded them of fire. Were they the color of fire – or was it the shape of the tongues – or perhaps, both? We just don’t know. They heard – they felt – they saw. After the congregation of this new church heard the wind and they saw the fire, they began to speak in languages that were completely unknown to them. This week, I attended the New Church Ministers’ Conference in Lexington, KY. During an evening worship service, all 100 of us were encouraged to pray aloud simultaneously – in our own first language. Men and women were praying aloud in Korean – and Vietnamese – and Spanish – and Creole – and Japanese – and English – all at the same time. That must be a little like the way it sounded when the first Church began to speak on Pentecost! Can you see what God was doing in Jerusalem? One hundred twenty followers of Jesus first experienced the event of Pentecost as observers. But then, as they began to speak, they became participants! The Holy Spirit of God drew them into this multi-media event! Through the mouths of the Church, the witness of God was heard by the many who walked by on the streets of Jerusalem that day. God could have stopped with the wind. Wind would have been enough to fill Christ’s followers with the Holy Spirit like a breath of fresh air on a hot, spring day. God could have included the tongues as of fire and stopped there. You’ve heard the saying: “Seeing is believing.” Perhaps the sight would have been enough to fill the people with the burning enthusiasm of the Holy Spirit. But O no – that wasn’t the end! In almost a kind of sensual overload, sensual signs came one after another – like one domino falling against another – and that one knocking against another – until the flow of energy and direction could not be stopped. God touched them – enveloped them – filled them up – powered them – and empowered them! You know how people are. You know how we are: if you or I were one of the Church members at Pentecost, and we had only heard the sound of the wind and then received the Holy Spirit, there would always be just a little bit of doubt in the back of our minds as to what – if anything – really happened that day. And, as I think about it, I’m not even sure that those flaming tongues over everyone’s heads would have erased all of our doubt. You know how people are. You know how we are: as days turned into weeks – and weeks became months – and months became years – the event would have become fuzzy in our minds – the memories a little less certain. And we would wonder: was it all just a dream? Was it more hallucination than history? But God knew how people are, too. God grabbed hold of the disciples and threw them into the center of the story. They heard. They saw. They spoke. And once they started speaking and witnessing to people in the city streets, there was no room left for doubt. We usually first experience the Kingdom of God as observers. When the Holy Spirit enters our lives, we then become participants. All of our senses are affected. God ministers to our entire body – mind – and soul – and then, we begin to minister for God! On this Pentecost morning, I ask you to think about where you are in God’s Kingdom. Are you still an observer, or have you become a participant? Are you someone who can see “the Hand of God” at work in the world, or are you “the hand of God” at work in the world? The disciples followed Jesus for about three years. They watched him. They listened to his teachings. They followed him from town to town. They watched him die. They witnessed his resurrection. On Pentecost, the “watchers” of Jesus – the “observers” of Jesus’ ministry – the “listeners” to Jesus’ teachings – became participants in God’s Kingdom. And so, I ask you again: are you still an observer – or have you become a participant? Are you someone who sees “the Hand of God” at work in the world – or are you “the hand of God” at work in the world? As we remember the full impact of that Christian gathering nearly twenty centuries ago, we are invited to faithfully step into the fullness of God’s Spirit already at work in the Church. Won’t you let God’s Holy Spirit make you a participant? Let us pray. O God of Wind and Fire, on this special day, we celebrate the power that your Holy Spirit brings to the Church. We have seen your handiwork in the Church and in our own lives. You are real! Give us the courage to put aside all of the uncertainty – all of the pride – all of the fear – that keeps us from participating fully in your Kingdom with our whole lives. We ask it in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen. |